Running To Daylight
Steelers Remain Dependent On Ground Game
By Jerry DiPaola

By all accounts, and using past history as an indicator of the future, the Steelers will continue to quench their thirst for offense in their deep pool of running backs.

Repeated injuries to tough-guy quarterback Ben Roethlisberger may send fans into fits of frenzy and cause misguided TV stations to lead the local news with the condition of a 23-year-old’s sprained knee. But Steelers coach Bill Cowher and his offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt know better.

If the offensive line is run blocking as it did last season and in four of the first six games this season, the Steelers can survive injuries in their passing game much easier than in the run game.

For the past two years -- after they began the 2003 season with the seriously overrated Amos Zereoue as their starter and began to lean on the demon that became their aerial game hopes -- the team has made depth among its runners a priority.

The situation has reached such dramatic proportions that the Steelers have forced Jerome Bettis, a back who will someday find his bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, to take two insulting pay cuts in the past two years. Even though team chairman Dan Rooney is philosophically opposed to cutting a man’s pay from its contractual roots.

The Steelers usually make room for one extravagant veteran acquisition per off-season, and consider these three who presently reside on the team’s roster: Two are running backs; the other, center Jeff Hartings, made the Pro Bowl blocking for the running game last year.

Of the backs:

* Bettis was secured by former director of football operations Tom Donahoe in 1996 with two draft choices.

* Duce Staley was signed from the Philadelphia Eagles to a five-year, $14 million contract that included a $4 million signing bonus in the winter of 2004.

The Bettis trade from the St. Louis Rams was significant because Donahoe treasures only his wife and kids more than draft choices. But the Steelers were desperate at the time, with Bam Morris, who had scored a rushing touchdown in Super Bowl XXX only two months earlier, facing drug charges and the unraveling of a promising career. Imagine if Morris had been a model citizen. Bettis might never have become a Steeler.

The Steelers continue to prioritize the running back position, making room for four this season, including starter Willie Parker and third-down specialist Verron Haynes.

Nonetheless, the Steelers just aren’t equipped to survive games in which the running game fizzles.

Parker started the season like he couldn’t be stopped, rushing for 272 yards in two victories against the Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans. Running against those sorry defenses built false hope and Parker hit a wall against the New England Patriots, managing only 55 yards on 17 carries. The Steelers lost. When he could only get 55 on 21 against the Jaguars, the Steelers lost again.

Miraculously, the Steelers managed to win in San Diego on a late field goal while Parker’s 26 yards on 10 tries were being complimented by Bettis’ 54.

But the importance of the running game was underscored with a fat exclamation point when Parker ran for 131 yards on 18 carries and the Steelers totaled 221 on the ground in a severe pounding of the Cincinnati Bengals, who were 5-1 and playing at home.

Roethlisberger? He was there, but the Steelers needed him to throw only six passes after halftime, even though they went into the third quarter with a slim 7-6 lead.

"That is low," Roethlisberger said of his nine completions that afternoon. "But we were running the ball so well. The play-action worked for us, and the linemen really sold it."

Conclusion: Run well and win; run poorly and lose -- almost all of the time. At least, that’s the way with the Steelers, who seek balance, but must lean on their backs. Even their success in the air is predicated by success on the ground.

Said Cowher after Roethlisberger had a big day throwing the ball in the early season win over Houston, “A lot of those passes are coming off play-action."

Remember the 2003 season when Cowher became starry-eyed over what quarterback Tommy Maddox might be able to do in the passing game? He thought the Steelers could get by with Zereoue at running back and Maddox throwing to Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress.

Worshiping at the alter of the aerial game cost the Steelers a 6-10 season because there was no running game to support it and teams loaded up their defense against the pass.

The situation changed in 2004, with the addition of Staley and the re-emergence of Bettis. They shared the position, combined for 1,771 rushing yards and the Steelers were 15-1.

“It really started in training camp,” said offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt. “That was our mind-set: We're going to run the ball. We started from Day 1.”

Now, the Steelers are making another stab at a Super Bowl, with Burress in New York with the Giants and Staley hobbled by a knee injury that will plague him all season.

Parker has played well only half the time, which raises a question: Can he handle a heavy load for 16 games?

The Steelers need an answer; otherwise, they might have to seek new running backs in the off-season.

Bettis, 33, is probably in the midst of his final season. He has been in the league since 1993 and he may not want to go through another six months of preparation, especially after missing the first three games with a calf injury and being ignored by Cowher against Jacksonville.

Haynes, 26, will be an unrestricted free agent in 2006 and he could seek more playing time elsewhere.

Parker, 25, is a keeper. But, he has not even played half a season as the starter.

Even Cowher admitted that he was wrong for not using Bettis in overtime against the Jaguars when the Steelers just needed to grind out a few yards. Parker was unable to do that, fumbling and losing 3 yards on his first try and gaining just 2 over right guard -- into the teeth of the Jacksonville defense -- on the next.

Which brings us to Staley.

Not many people realize this, but Staley is only three years younger than Bettis. He’s a tough guy who doesn’t mind playing hurt, but injuries have plagued his two seasons in Pittsburgh. His career is far from finished, but he will be 31 on Feb. 27.

Yes, there are three years left on his contract, but will he see the end of it in Pittsburgh? And if he doesn’t, will Parker be able to carry the load when Staley and Bettis are gone?

Parker has a rare opportunity to show Cowher that he can be the team’s back of the future. Of the final nine games, starting Nov. 6 in Green Bay, only three opponents were ranked in the top 10 in run defense after seven weeks.

The schedule includes such notoriously soft defensive fronts as the No. 29 Cleveland Browns (twice), No. 32 Minnesota Vikings and No. 22 Bengals.

Fortunately for Parker, Cowher will continue to use him, considering Bettis’ age and Staley’s knee.

If Parker fails, the Steelers may not go into the off-season determined to upgrade the running back position, but they will certainly make it one of their top priorities. If the history of this franchise tells us anything, failure to pay attention to the running game guarantees nothing but failure.

Jerry DiPaola is an assistant editor for the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.